Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce » (1st Edition)

David W. DeLong is a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab and an adjunct professor at Babson College where he teaches a course on "Leading Change." He has consulted and lectured in many countries and is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in leading journals and magazines.

Because the baby boomers have worked through a period of unprecedented technological change, and many have spent a big part of their career at one workplace, as they begin to retire, much irreplaceable knowledge will follow them to Florida and Arizona. DeLong (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) asks managers why they should care, how specific knowledge might vanish from their organization, the impact the loss would have, and how to retain critical knowledge when the knower moves on. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

As long-term members of the workforce retire, what happens to their knowledge and skills? DeLong (Executive Support Systems: The Emergence of Top Management Computer Use), a research fellow at the MIT AgeLab and adjunct professor at Babson College, studies the effects of lost knowledge. The issues he addresses here include why organizations should care about the threat of lost knowledge, the different ways that knowledge disappears, and the effect of lost knowledge on performance. Most important, it considers how organizations can retain more critical knowledge in the face of major turnover, owing not only to an aging workforce but to increased attrition among mid-career employees. Solutions to the problem presented here include storytelling, mentoring, interviews/videotaping, and training. DeLong makes his points by drawing on case studies, e.g., owing to early retirement, NASA engineers lost knowledge on how to land on the moon. Extensive chapter notes list sources for further reading. An important, timely book; highly recommended for academic libraries.-Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.